Liu Yandong

Member of China's Politburo Liu Yandong applauds as she arrives at a China market focus event at the London Book Fair April 15, 2012.

As the only female member of the previous Politburo, the state councilor in charge of the health, education and sports portfolios stands out. Despite Chairman Mao’s maxim that women hold up half the sky, women are a rare commodity in the upper ranks of the Party. Liu, aged 66, a rare princeling who is allied both with Hu and Jiang, might have shattered the Standing Committee’s glass ceiling. But as before, the men who rule China will remain just that.